Split Ends

What we all know as split ends is actually trichoptlosis where the protective cuticle around the hair (especially at the ends) has been damaged or removed. When you have split ends, your hair does not look neat, clean or healthy. The ends either look "fuzzy" or they break off at different lengths along the hair shafts and give your hair a straggly appearance even when freshly washed and groomed.

Let's take a bit of a scientific look at split ends. Each strand of your hair is made up of 3 layers - the cuticle, the cortex, and the medula.

The medula is the core, made up of soft, coin-shaped cells stacked on top of each other.

The cortex surrounds the medula and is made up of spindle shaped cells which determine the color and texture of your hair.

The cuticle is the outer layer that consists of hard, round tubular cells that overlap and act as armour for the softer, more delicate cells that are inside your hair shaft.

Cellular Damage

When the cuticle becomes damaged, the overlapping cells will curl and your hair will look dull. Not only that, the softer cortex beneath these cells gets exposed, and that is when you get split ends or even some breakage.

Remedy
A head full of split ends is not attractive, so what can you do about it? Many years ago, people would actually burn split ends - a bit drastic and not recommended. There are products that are available on the market today that will actually fuse or glue the damaged pieces of your hair together, but that will only last until you wash your hair. Unfortunately, the only remedy for split ends is to cut them off.

Split ends should not be left unattended. The damaged ends need to be cut off before they travel further up the shafts of your hair and do more damage. Some splits can split right up the entire hair shaft or else the split ends themselves will actually split, leaving you with split split ends.

Causes
What causes hair to split like that? General abuse such as -

* a lot of heat (curling irons, blow driers)
* chemicals (chlorine, perms, straighteners, hair color)
* outside elements (extreme heat, extreme cold, wind)
* overbrushing (such as the old recommended 100 brush strokes per day)
* cutting with dull scissors (ouch)
* lack of regular haircuts

Prevention
You can take precautionary measures to avoid split ends such as -

* use a low pH shampoo
* use a leave in conditioner to avoid tangles and moisturize your hair
* after washing your hair, squeeze the water out and absorb the rest with a thick towel (rubbing will split the ends or even break hairs)
* gently comb out your wet hair with a wide-toothed comb (wet hair stretches and snaps more easily than dry hair)
* limit your use of styling products (such as gel, mousse hairspray) that could build up on your hair
* avoid or at least limit heat from curling irons, blow driers, etc.
* use fabric covered elastics or scrunchies rather than elastic bands
* trim your hair every 6 - 8 weeks
* cover up your hair with a hat when you need to be out in the sun for an extended period of time
* eat a healthy diet (protein, iron, vitamin C and vitamin E are essential for healthy hair)

If you treat your hair well with regular shampoong and trimming and take the mentioned precautionary measures, you shouldn't have to worry about split ends.